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A fleet of 191 ships soon rode on the English waters, Netherlands and accordingly the Protestant cause
with Lord Howard of Effingham, the Queen's cousin, the found a new heart; the world had not ended after all,
admiral. Under him served Drake, Hawkins and with the Massacre of St. Bartholomew or the murder of
Frobisher. William of Orange.

A storm had played havoc with many vessels in the The Elizabethans held a most solemn thanksgiving in St.
Spanish fleet between Lisbon and Corunna, but Philip Paul's on 4th December, 1588, which was attended by
insisted there could be no further delays while ship- the Queen. Amid the rejoicing, there was also a con-
wrights worked to repair the damage. The Armada left scious understanding of the Papal "obvious design"
Corunna on 22nd July and a week later sighted the Liz- and confirmation of their confident belief, that they rep-
ard. Fire beacons -- a system unique to England -- were resented the Israel of God and that their enemies were
lit, announcing the sighting of the Spanish fleet in the Antichrist and Babylon.
Channel. By this early warning system England could
bring together 25 or 30 thousand men in two hours. -- W.F. Finlayson

On the night of 6th-7th August, the nervous Spaniards
saw eight blazing fireships drifting, lashed together, The Oldest Monarchy in
across to their anchorage off Calais. Their nerves Christendom
snapped and against orders the captains cut their ca-
bles and sailed out to sea to their fate. The English de-
livered terrible broadsides at the scattering ships until There is no time in the recorded history of this country
they could be seen, literally, running red with blood. As [Britain] when there were no kings or queens. Apart
the stricken Invincible Armada struggled northwards to from the brief and unhappy interregnum of Cromwell,
escape, it grew steadily smaller -- many vessels were the only time when kings existed but did not wield
pounded to pieces on rocks by severe storms off the power or influence was during the long Roman occupa-
coast of Ireland whose coastal sands became littered tion which lasted from A.D. 43 to A.D. 411. Before that
with Spanish corpses. Some 65 shattered hulks only re- there were several separate kingdoms (the Emperor
turned to Spain and when Medina Sidonia reached San- Claudius in 43 received the submission of 11 British
tander on 23rd September, he was delirious with kings) but the most prominent dynasty was that to
dysentery and two thirds of his men who survived were whom Cassivellaunus of the Catuvallauni clan be-
dead within a month from disease and starvation. It had longed. This king achieved immortality by his vigorous
been a fated enterprise from the start, but a formidable opposition to Caesar and the latter mentions him in his
and terrible threat to Protestant England nevertheless. Commentaries.

Cassivellaunus is said to have been the son of Beli the
One of the Spanish galleons carried the horrific instru-
ments of torture, used in the inquisition. If England had Great, a British king of about 100 B.C. He was also
been invaded, no true Protestant would have been safe. brother of King Lud and both Beli and Lud are thought
The stench of the Smithfield Martyrs' fires was still to be commemorated in London in the names of Billings-
fresh in the people's minds and they knew full well that gate and Ludgate. Lud was father of Llyr (Shakespeare's
the iron hand of Romanism would show them no mercy. 'King Lear') and Lud's grandsons included Bran the
The Israel nation of the reformation held its breath and Blessed and Cunobelinus (Shalespeare's 'Cymbeline').
prayed, as the enemy sailed into English waters. But the
God of Jacob heard and delivered. The forces of pagan- Bran's son was Caractacus, one of the great heroes of
ism were scattered and the Appointed Isles were safe. British history who fought the Claudian invasion of
Soon there was rejoicing in the land with thanksgiving Britain as valiantly as his great-grandfather Cassivel-
services, medals and paintings all in recognition of the launus had harried Caesar. His final defeat and taking in
"Protestant Wind." Indeed, throughout Europe, the chains to Rome is vividly described by Tacitus. His de-
English victory was ascribed to divine intervention. The meanour in captivity (in one of his speeches he pro-
defeat of the Armada was a decisive event in that it claims his noble ancestry) so impressed the Romans
checked the colossus of the Holy Catholic nation of that he remained an honoured captive in the City.
Spain, which had grown enormous from Lepanto, the
conquest of Portugal and the successes of Parma in the Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni, having suffered indignity

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